Today’s Market Summarised
Indian markets see another crash following global peers. Covid mutations resurface and pump in fear to traders again.
NIFTY opened the day at 17,343 with a 200 point gap-down. From there, it was a sharp fall then consolidation and then a sharp fall again. Just near closing, the index even briefly dipped below the 17k for the first time since crossing this mark in late August. NIFTY closed the day at 17,026, down by 509 points or 2.90%.
BANK NIFTY opened the day 36,849 with a similarly huge gap-down. This week’s low was broken along with the 36,500 mark very easily. After sideways movement till 2:30 PM, the index fell again to break the 36,000 level. BANK NIFTY closed the day at 36,025, down 1339 points or 3.58%.
NIFTY PHARMA(+1.7%) closed in bright green for the day. All other sectoral indices fell. NIFTY REALTY(-6.2%), NIFTY METAL(-5.3%), NIFTY PSU BANK(-4.2%) and NIFTY AUTO(-4.3%) fell more than 4%. Bank NIFTY(-3.5%) and NIFTY MEDIA(-3.5%) also fell heavily.
All major Asian markets closed in the red today. All European markets are trading in the red currently.
News Picks
There is fear globally about the new variant of COVID-19, triggering a sell-off across international markets. You can read more about Why NIFTY fell in this article here.
Pharma stocks were the only major gainers in NIFTY 50 today. Cipla(+7.4%), Dr Reddy(+3.4%) and Divis Lab(+2.8%) moved up. Money flowed into these stocks as Covid-19 fears resurfaced.
Cadila HC(+2.4%), Alkem(+6.8%), Lupin(+1.7%), Pfizer(+4.8%) and other pharma stocks also moved up. But SunPharma(-1.9%), Laurus Labs(-2.2%) and others could not hold their morning gains.
With a fall in Chinese steel export prices, lower domestic demand and the Covid-fears, metal stocks featured among the top-losers of NIFTY 50. JSW Steel(-7.6%), Hindalco(-6.7%) and Tata Steel(-5.2%) fell heavily.
National Aluminium(-9%), Jindal Steel(-7.1%) and SAIL(-5.7%) also fell.
NIFTY Realty stocks also saw heavy corrections with all participants of the index falling more than 4%. DLF(-7.4%), Phoenix Ltd(-7.5%) and Godrej Properties(-6.4%) were the top losers.
Stocks related to economic re-opening or unlock theme stock saw heavy selling. PVR(-10.8%), Inox(-8.8%) moved down. Hotel stocks – Chalet(-14.3%) Indian Hotels(-11.4%), Kamat Hotels(-6.9%), Lemon Tree(-8.7%), EI Hotel(-7.4%) and others also fell. Airlines stocks Indigo(-8.8%) and SpiceJet(-6.7%) fell.
Tarsons Products listed at Rs 682/share on NSE vs issue price of Rs 662 and went up a further 20% from there.
Indiabulls Housing Finance(+8.7%) moved up while other financial companies came under selling pressure.
Escorts(+3%) moved up and hit an all-time high in the bearish market after the company announced the open offer schedule for stake purchase by Kubota. You can read more about it here.
Markets Ahead
The movements in the market were all about Covid fears. Israel has reported the first case of new coronavirus variant B.1.1.529.
The major concern regarding the virus is that there are no clear data points available currently. Researchers report very high viral loads in patients even with a short exposure and full vaccinations. They are still trying to confirm whether this makes it more transmissible or lethal than earlier variants.
Singapore and Japan to adopt stricter border controls for visitors from South Africa, 5 other nations due to the discovery of this new coronavirus variant. The U.K. has also stopped some flights from South Africa.
More than 7 lakh crores of investor wealth was erased in BSE today. It was the biggest single-day fall in NIFTY since April. Also the worst weekly fall for NIFTY since January.
India VIX has shot up 24% to 20.80 and is now at a 6 month high. Options traders will have to assess their trading situations well before taking overnight trades.
The U.S. market will open today for trading for a short period, after being closed yesterday for Thanksgiving. It will be interesting to see how they react to this news, with Dow Jones Futures more than 2.3% down currently.
Read more about the why’s and what next’s of the fall in NIFTY here.
44 out of the 50 NIFTY stocks closed lower this week. How did the week go for you? Let us know in the comments section of the marketfeed app!
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